next in line
by thatssupersketch
Summary: the four times Dick called shotgun, and the one time he didn't have to. (traught)
1. (1)

Everyone piling into Artemis' car was a normal occurrence, especially after she finally earned her less restricted license. She not so patiently waited for time to drag on until said restricted license became a full one. Her mom had surprised her with a deal on an old beat up SUV. Nothing could have made her happier.

Most of the time she left it in Happy Harbor, as that was where Artemis spent her time if she wasn't at school. Gotham was okay and all, but as confident as Artemis was, big city traffic scared her. She knew they had awful insurance and didn't want to take the risk of accidentally wrecking her car when she didn't need to take the chance.

The times when she did have it in Gotham, however, she had to drive it from Happy Harbor to Gotham, and vice versa, when the situation called for it.

This is where Robin weaseled in.

It had taken her about a year to finally put two and two together, but she finally uncovered Robin's secret. It had taken some not so subtle hints from Dick and a little snooping at Wayne manor, but it was a worthwhile secret to learn. This meant that she actually had a friend in Gotham that knew about all aspects in her life. Artemis found this comforting, if not a little disturbing. Overall, she appreciated it. Even if he was an annoying underclassman.

As Robin lived in Gotham and "didn't want her to drive that long by herself," he insisted he should accompany her. Begrudgingly, she had to agree. He had mentioned it to her mother, who thought it was a _wonderful_ idea to keep her daughter safe. It wasn't like Artemis was a superhero or anything. (Wait. She was.) In the end, her mom still wouldn't budge, so along Dickie came.

1) the first time.

Dick was practically bouncing up and down, uncharacteristic of his normal cool countenance. Artemis rolled her eyes and unlocked the door, gesturing to her SUV. "Are you getting in or not?"

Dick didn't have to be asked twice. He quickly opened the door and made himself right at home. Artemis chuckled drily, but made no comment. Sure, she knew this kid was weird, but it was just a car. It wasn't even THAT Long of a road trip.

"Shotgun!" he cackled, as if he weren't the only passenger.

He turned to her, excitement oozing from every pore. "Can I pick the music?"

"No."

"Can I fix the controls so you can-"

"No."

Robin gave an exasperated sigh and slouched back into his seat. "What can I do?"

Artemis tossed him a withering look, not paying much attention to the boy wonder. She still wasn't used to taking these busy of highways yet, and that required more attention than the pouty teenager sitting shotgun. "I don't know," she said absentmindedly.

Dick scoffed. "Why did I even come?"

"You tell me, birdbrain," she deadpanned, not even sparing a glance at her companion. "You're the one that invited yourself."

Artemis regretted it the second the words slipped out of her mouth, but it was too late to take them back. Dick looked hurt, and a little bit embarrassed. She hadn't meant any harm; she liked the kid well enough. She just didn't do well with things not being her choice in the end, such as adding a companion to her road trip.

"You know," Artemis began slowly, "If you would have just asked, I would have said yes."

He squinted at her. "What?"

She sighed. "If you would have just asked if you could come, I would've said yes."

"Really?" he had leaned forward in his seat again, and it was hard for Artemis to not laugh at his eagerness.

"Really," she affirmed. "You're not so bad."

The kid was full out grinning now. "Thanks, Artie."

"Don't push your luck."

"Right, sorry." 


	2. (2)

(2) you can play music this ONCE. uno timo.

As had become habit, Robin found his way into Artemis' vehicle, nearly causing her to have a heart attack. She was always very sharp, but Dick was basically a ninja, and she had no idea how he did most of the things he did. Whenever she would question him about it, he would simply grin and laugh at Artemis' undignified stutter.

This time, she was ready. She was flipping through a magazine (No, not people. Academy Sports. They got a new stock of crossbows) and didn't even look up when she felt his presence appear in the car. "Do you like the green or black one better?" she queried, then raised her head to make eye contact.

Dick looked a little perturbed that he had been discovered, but masked if quickly. "The green one," quipped. "More functional, but with that flair I know you love."

Artemis rolled her eyes and tossed the magazine at her friend. "Whatever, let's get going."

Dick knew better than to mess with the radio, but she could see him glance at her radio longingly. Still in a good mood from discovering the ninja, she internally caved.

"You can change it," she suggested. "If you want."

Dick turned to her, frown apparent. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"You just voluntarily gave me radio control."

Artemis shrugged and brushed back a chunk of hair from her face. "I'm feeling generous. Take it or leave it. "

"Oh, _definitely_ taking it," Robin grinned.

She groaned. "Please don't make me regret this."

" _Au contraire_ , illustrious archer. You know I would never disappoint." his mouth curled just so, and- wait. She was thinking about his mouth. Why was she thinking about his mouth?

Internally shaking herself, Artemis forced her focus to return to the road. Her teammate had been growing up lately, and she had _really_ noticed. He was actually taller than her now, so gone was the material for short jokes. He had begun to fill out a little bit more, but as an acrobat, his form stayed lithe. Not that Artemis minded.

Dick was still a few years younger than her, but she didn't find him quite so annoying to be around anymore. She even looked forward to their road trips. Whenever he wasn't being incredibly annoying, that is. You win some, you lose some.

While Artemis was contemplating, Dick had made himself at home by hooking up his phone to the aux cable, and was currently surfing his music for something to listen to.

"Anything good yet?" Artemis laughed, glancing at her companion. "Maybe we could listen to something, you know, before we get there."

He simply put up a finger to stop her. "You can't rush perfection."

In another minute, he had finally decided, and the sound of one of Artemis's favorite bands poured through the shoddy speaker system. She looked at Dick quizzically, who was in his own little world. He still hadn't passed the phase where he was nearly invincible when it came to others' thoughts, but he suddenly became hyper aware of Artemis watching him. Dick stopped, returning Artemis's look. "What?"

"Nothing," Artemis smiled to herself and returned her attention to the road.

Dick shrugged, and continued to dance for the rest of the song. At this point in time, Artemis had definitely reinvented her opinion concerning these road trips in the first place and maybe even had forgiven Dick a little for forcing an invite to these things.

Just a little.


	3. (3)

(3) duke it out.

"No."

Artemis sighed; this was going to be a long day. Leaning back and crossing her arms, she sized up the idiot clinging to her SUV door like his life depended on it. He did look pretty adamant, and he was obviously not taking this well.

"Dick," she began slowly, trying to take a rational approach.

"No," he repeated stubbornly. "I called shotgun. It's mine."

"Move out of the way, rob," came a voice from behind Artemis. When she turned, it was none other than the source of the problem: Wally.

Now, Wally and Dick were close. To be honest, Robin had to constantly reiterate the fact that they weren't dating to remind her of it. A lot of the times, she wanted to be in an actual relationship like theirs. Except, with kissing and stuff. But she never knew what they did behind closed doors, no matter what Robin said...

Anyway, Dick was not happy about the current situation. Although he always rode shotgun with Artemis when it was just the two of them, Wally was joining them today. And he didn't seem to like it one bit.

Dick looked _almost_ pleadingly at Artemis. He didn't like to be vulnerable very often, but apparently he was pulling out all the stops today. "Tell him he can't have it. I always sit shotgun!"

Artemis shuffled her boots awkwardly on the concrete. "I know, but-"

"I'm older." Wally cut her off. "And, I actually called it first." he pushed (none too gently) him out of the way, making a mad grab for the door.

Robin rubbed his shoulder and grimaced. "It was more of an unspoken thing," he muttered.

Artemis did feel guilty, but age was always a factor. The less she involved herself in this situation, the better. She was already going to have to sit with the two idiots for hours on end. She wasn't about to throw a bigger argument into the mix by picking sides.

In the end, it didn't matter. Wally was stronger and was able to physically take it, and as much as Dick didn't like it, he would have his day in the sun, someday. Artemis just hoped she wouldn't be on the receiving end of his wrath.


	4. (4)

(4) cross my heart and hope to die.

Artemis revved the engine, uncharacteristically not caring about the condition of her car.

"Get in or get out, Grayson," she snarled, lasering her focus straight ahead. Her mouth was taut and her forward gaze unnerving. Dick hesitated only a second, but jumped in and dumped his bag on the floor, quickly settling in and trying to make himself small.

After maybe, 20 minutes of silence, Dick had had enough. "What's with you?"

Artemis glared at him. The little punk had quite the nerve, after making her wait for an hour. He knows she hates leaving Gotham during rush hour, as she hates city traffic so much anyways, but it's sno much worse during rush hour. He just _had_ to go and make her life impossible.

On _top_ of that, when she went to go find him, she found him talking to a girl. She was really pretty, too, which didn't sit well with Artemis. (She was the type who didn't try at all and still was exceedingly gorgeous, which automatically put her on Artemis' watch list. That kind of stuff just wasn't natural) In addition to making her uncomfortable, she felt gross in comparison- the shabby old flip phone next to the iPhone 6. But it was whatever.

She shouldn't be feeling this way anyway. She shouldn't care. Dick was just a teammate, a younger one at that. It was dumb for this to evoke this kind of reaction from her, any kind of reaction, but she couldn't help it. It was a deep gut thing, and deep down, Artemis didn't really want to stop it.

Shrinking under his teammate's gaze, Dick made his hands busy fiddling with his seatbelt. "Uh, Artemis?" he asked unsurely, peering up at her as if he _weren't_ the guilty party. (And, uh, he totally was. Jerk.)

She scoffed. "Do you really not expect me to be mad for you being an HOUR late and making me drive during rush hour? For a boy genius, you sure are dense."

Artemis ran her hand through her hair, exhaling slowly through her nose. "You're lucky you can ride with me at all, kid."

He flinched at the term kid, but she could care less at the moment. Ditching responsibilities to flirt was the action of a kid, and she was not giving up on this one. Artemis was known for a lot of things, and one of them was never backing down. She was too far in at this point and there was no way she was letting this slip by (especially since it personally involved her feelings, which no one messes with. Ever.)

"Look, I'm sorry," Dick cringed. "I was-"

"Yeah? You were what, exactly? Flirting?" she snapped, cheeks growing redder, her body admitting what she could not.

Dick sighed, turning to face her. "Why does that even matter? That's-"

Artemis quickly cut him off, her tone changing from enraged to cool and calculated which was worse. Nothing was more infuriating than arguing with a calm person. She knew from experience, she had had loads of practice with jade. "It MATTERS because I don't have to freaking take you anywhere, and you don't even have a good reason for being late, other than hitting on hot girls-"

Dick's facial expression morphed from sheepish to a knowing smirk in a second. "Wait, how do you know I was flirting?"

This time it was Artemis' turn to look embarrassed, although her skin had still retained a bit of the blush she had picked up earlier. "Um, just a guess. The way I see you at school would make me think that-"

"You were watching me," he sang, enjoying her discomfort. It wasn't often that anyone could make Artemis squirm, and the boy wonder certainly seemed to be relishing the moment. Taking her lack of response as a sign to plow forward, he tested further uncharted waters.

"Why were you watching me, huh, Arty?" probing further for both his curiosity and a deep hope within, he continued. "Maybe a certain archer likes a certain-"

"No," Artemis said flatly.

"Well?" Dick rested his chin in his hands. "Why were you watching me, then?" he cocked his head to the side, a knowing grin plastered on his face.

Artemis was furious that he could keep his calm like this, better than her, but two could play this game.

"You know," she shrugged. "Doing some extra surveillance. I wasn't supposed to tell you," she leaned in conspiratorially. "But the Bat asked me to keep an eye on you."

Dick looked a little hurt. (Again, screw this. Screw YOU, Dick Grayson. That's for being adorable when she wanted to be mad at him.) "He did not," he adamantly defended himself, chin pert in the air.

Artemis dismissed him casually with a wave of her hand. "You believe what you want, Grayson. I only do what I'm told."

He cackled. "Yeah, right."

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not rude enough to make good friends late and hurt their feelings-" Artemis retorted, but faltered as she realized what had come out of her mouth.

Casting sidelong glances at Dick, she was worried when her passenger had gone silent, looking straight ahead.

"Hurt your feelings?" he finally asked quietly. "I was gonna make a joke about how you didn't have those, but I'm genuinely concerned."

"Then get cerned," she said drily. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," he said gravely, the air of mischief leaving him for the first moment since she had known him.

"I know. " she shrugged. "It's fine. Just-just don't be late next time, okay?"

Dick nodded and dragged his finger across the left side of his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Artemis shoved him. "Weirdo."

"But I'm your weirdo," he teased, and for the first time that day, she couldn't help but agree with him.


End file.
